Turns out, the parent company of Entertainment One (the independent label releasing David Archuleta’s No Matter How Far album) started out right here in Canada. Their history makes for interesting reading (for me, anyway, lol):

From roots as a Canadian record and tape retailer to a global leader in content, Entertainment One has touched nearly every step of acquisition, production and distribution for film, television and music. Today, Entertainment One has grown beyond its modest record store roots bringing film and music to regions around the world — with more than 24,000 film and television titles, 2,700 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.

eOne began operations in 1973 in Ontario, Canada, as Records on Wheels Limited (‘ROW’), founded and operated by Vito Ierullo and Don Ierullo focusing on retail sales of recorded music. In the late 1970s ROW began to distribute recorded music for third party retailers throughout Canada. Over the next 20+ years, entertainment content distribution became ROW’s primary focus as the company expanded into video, purchasing one of Canada’s largest home entertainment distributors, Video One Canada. In November 2003 ROW listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ROW Entertainment Income Fund, and soon after changed its name to Entertainment One Income Fund for which the role of CEO of Entertainment One was graciously given to the current CEO of eOne by Vito Ierullo.

In June 2005, Entertainment One Income Fund acquired Koch Entertainment, North America’s largest indie music label and a large U.S. distributor of home entertainment products. The combined company, now called Entertainment One (a.k.a. eOne), had a comprehensive U.S.-Canadian distribution network and began acquiring rights for specialty content. In 2007, in a move to fund expansion into independent feature film distribution and rights ownership, eOne was sold to UK-based Marwyn Investment Management and immediately listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market in a $200 million IPO.

In 2007, eOne acquired Montreal-based film distributor Seville Pictures and UK distributor Contender Entertainment and, that same year, the company secured its first film output agreement with Summit Entertainment – a deal which included the future cinematic and home video blockbuster Twilight film series, a teen romance about vampires based on the best-selling book of the same name. The acquisitions continued in 2008 with the purchase of leading Benelux distributor RCV Entertainment. That same year, eOne created its television arm, purchasing production companies Blueprint and Barna-Alper and international television distributor Oasis International.

On May 28, 2012, eOne confirmed their bid to purchase Alliance Films from Goldman Sachs Group and Investissement Quebec, similar to the purchase of Maple Pictures a year prior.

On January 9, 2013, Entertainment One (eOne) completed transaction of Alliance Films for $225 million and will merge Alliance Films and all of their subsidiaries under the Entertainment One brand.[10] With this deal, eOne will distribute titles from The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate as well as Summit Entertainment, Focus Features, Lakeshore, Lava Bear, and Morgan Creek in Canada; the deal also brings eOne output agreements with Summit and Lionsgate in Spain and Relativity Media in Canada and the UK.

E1 Music (formerly Koch Records), the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is an independent record label in the United States. It is widely regarded as the top independent record label in the United States, having garnered the most Billboard hits of any independent record label in history. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal. On January 22, 2009, Koch Records was officially branded as “E1 Music” by parent company Entertainment One.

Since its inception as KOCH Records, E1 Music has charted over 100 albums on Billboard‘s Independent Chart, surpassing the number of titles charted by all other U.S. independent labels. E1 Music has been the number one independent label according to Billboard for the last six years and quickly grew to become North America’s largest independently owned and distributed record label. E1 Music covers all musical genres from adult-contemporary to rock, urban to country, children’s to classical.

21 Responses to The Canadian record roots of @DavidArchie’s NMHF label

I was very excited when I first read that the label was significant in Canada…..I can smell a Toronto concert on the horizon!!! Lol…..I’m still not ready to give that dream up 😉 And I’m hoping for lots of radio time in Toronto!! Cannot wait for this album to drop ;P *doinghappydance*

Yes please let’s make it happen. David’s Concert here in Toronto when he return in 2014. Likewise,it would be awesome to hear David’s new Album “No Matter How Far” played on the radio here in Canada.*fansbucketlist*

Wow, loved reading about the Canadian record roots! How exciting, I really hope David makes it to Toronto too, I’m sure that would be the first place in Canada he does a concert when the time comes and I think it will come (of course hope he comes to Vancouver too). Can’t wait until the single is released and the album drops. Gotta say, love those tweets too!
After a stressful day today, had a couple of very nice missionaries knock on my door, guess someone let them in my building….which I don’t mind. Must say I had a very nice conversation with these two pleasant young men. David’s name came up, think I must have mentioned it, lol and one of the missionaries said when David was in the training centre he was there too when David was taking Spanish classes. Said David was very nice (and they agreed with me that he had a great voice). Anyway, did have a nice chat with them and I really hope that all the people David encounters are pleasant with him. 🙂
Can’t wait for the new music!

Thanks TOfan:)… what a great info about how ….the parent company of Entertainment One (the independent label releasing David Archuleta’s No Matter How Far album) started out right here in Canada!!…I agree with all the comment. I think it is about time that David’s music, specially the new album NMHF gets lots of radio time in Canada..David is such a unique and talented artist and
thanks to eOne on recognizing that and I am soooo exciiited haha !!:))..can hardly wait and it is getting closer and closer :)))))

I think this is the first time I’ve seen an all-Canadian comment thread, lol ((((group hug))) 🙂 This company def. has more of a presence here than Jive (who didn’t seem to have a presence anywhere, where David was concerned, anyway), they even have a PR person here in T.O. who was tweeting about NMHF today. I know this album is primarily for the fans, not to make any big splash on the charts or anything, but even if it just keeps David’s name out there (and up here), that will be icing on a very lovely cake. 🙂

peppertara, loved your story, how cool is that?!! … and whenever there’s a tour stop in Vancouver (which D. did say he wanted to see 🙂 ), I’m def. coming!

And nice writeup on BuddyTV.com:Some of you might be thinking, wait a minute, isn’t David Archuleta currently in South America serving on a Mormon mission? Yes, that’s right. But he must have recorded an endless array of songs before he left because not only did he release a covers album last year, his label, Entertainment One, is about to release another record. No Matter How Far is scheduled for a March 26 release date, and will include new songs plus previous tunes that never made it on his other albums. And the first single, “Don’t Run Away,” is now online to listen to for free:
The pop sound and style is very much in keeping with his self-titled debut and The Other Side of Down. If “Don’t Run Away” is any indication of what we can expect, then No Matter How Far is sure to be a solid and catchy album.

You have always represented the Canadian fans exceptionally well all the way back over time including the Canadian breakfast you hosted in SLC! I carefully wrapped the maple syrup in my suitcase for that one!

Remember how many times he said he loved Can-a-da in his vlog and I am sure he still does.

Great and exciting things. Guess being away for 2 years and releasing an album is somewhat unique. Gets attention. And the label sounds like a great match. Sun, moon and stars (at least one..D..) are aligning for we fans.

I used to want David to make great music for himself. Now, I’ve turned greedy…I want him to make music for moi…others can like, not like, critique, wring hands, etc…he’s singing for my listening pleasure….see David’s gone a year and I’ve changed…its all for me….lol

It seems David and his team understand that slow-and-steady wins the race! I’d say they are a smart and strategic entity led by a most outstanding boss!
I’m liking what eOneMusic has accomplished. They’re smart enough to know a good thing and I believe it’ll turn out to be a great match for them both. (Us too!)

So happy that David has a great Label in Entertainment One to represent him. He deserves it! His last Label wanted him to be a cookie cutter pop artist like Brittany and Beiber. He’s sooooo much more. thanks “eone” !!!